Tom Koenninger: Let Sharma probe take its course

The witch hunt at Vancouver City Hall must stop, and maybe a Department of Justice review will do just that.

Over the past month, the dispute has splintered the council and put the good reputations of City Manager Pat McDonnell and City Attorney Ted Gathe under hateful — and unwarranted — suspicion.

This results from the postmortem examination of the city’s $1.65 million settlement of former police officer Navin K. Sharma’s federal lawsuit alleging retaliation and discrimination. Sharma was fired in 2006 due to errors he made in filing reports about DUI cases. He said the firing was unjustified, and his lawyers maintain the errors were inadvertent mistakes, not meriting termination. They say Sharma was targeted for retaliation in 1998, after testifying against two police sergeants.

Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard, speaking during a heated “citizens communication” exchange on Oct. 6, labeled the Sharma reports “pretty serious stuff.” Sharma was fired, the mayor said, for filing 78 false police reports. “Not grammatical errors or misspelling. Seventy-eight reports that were wrong … not two, three, five.”

With one exception, a “kangaroo court” was conducted during citizens communications by those who question and accuse — without benefit of facts — both city administrators. During sessions before the council, some speakers insisted Vancouver police department members have been unfairly accused of discrimination. They allege the problem goes “much deeper,” and want to drag McDonnell and Gathe into the issue. Several called for their firing or resignation. Ed Lynch, who spoke in support of the administrators, was the exception.

On Oct. 6, speakers insisted on an independent review. Both Bruce Hall, a retired Vancouver police lieutenant, and Winnie Clements, a former assistant city attorney, called for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice with subpoena and witness power. Clements was sharply critical of Gathe’s office. Gathe, city attorney since 1994, said the accusations against him and others “are simply not true.”

In a Columbian article on Sept. 21, McDonnell and Vancouver Police Chief Clifford Cook defended members of the police department declaring, at one point, “the Vancouver Police Department is not rife with racism or acts of prejudice,” adding, “we are aware improvements are still needed within the … department.” They said the case was settled “to prevent the type of financial hardships that can result from going to court with a case that has such highly volatile and emotional allegations,” and they wanted to move forward as an organization and community.

In late September, council members Pat Campbell and Jeanne Stewart voted against the Sharma settlement and wondered if the city was trying to unfairly blame the police department. Fractious exchanges between council members Campbell and Jeanne Harris and Harris and Stewart occurred over two council meetings.

Meanwhile Hall, the retired police lieutenant, told the council chamber audience the problem is “much higher” than the police department.

Critics, shooting from the lip, have blindly targeted — and offended — McDonnell, who has served county and city government over the past 26 years. He was Clark County administrator for seven years and deputy city manager of Vancouver, becoming Vancouver’s city manager in 2000.

Under McDonnell’s leadership, Vancouver received an international “Certificate of Distinction” last month for use of performance information in 13 areas of city services.
On Friday, Mayor Pollard sent a letter asking the federal Department of Justice “to initiate an investigation” in the termination of Sharma. It will conduct a preliminary review to determine if the case “merits a full-blown investigation.” The city will seek an independent review as well.

Pollard, Vancouver’s blunt, no-nonsense mayor since 1996, isn’t going to hide the results. Nor will McDonnell bury the findings.

So let’s all calm down and let the process work.

After all, this isn’t Podunkville. It’s the fourth-largest city in the state, and the cradle of European civilization in the Northwest. Let’s act like we’re mature enough to live here.

TOM KOENNINGER is editor emeritus of The Columbian. His column of personal opinion appears on Wednesdays. Reach him at koenninger@comcast.com.